Terrorism and the Limits of Citizenship: Remaking Citizenship in a Time of Crisis by Rick T. Kavin A Thesis submitted to the Graduate School-Newark at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of the Master of Arts in Political Science graduate program, written under the direction of Dr. Mara Sidney and approved by: ______________________________________ (Dr. Mara Sidney – Committee Chairperson) ______________________________________ (Dr. Alison Howell) ______________________________________ (Dr. Elizabeth Hull) Newark, New Jersey May, 2016 ©2016 Rick T. Kavin ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Terrorism and the Limits of Citizenship: Remaking Citizenship in a Time of Crisis By Rick T. Kavin Thesis Advisor: Dr. Mara Sidney The goal of this project is to analyze the confluence of factors that is resulting in a changing understanding and application of citizenship in the United States. As fears of citizen terrorism rise and the government implements new policies to combat terror, there is a shift in policy taking place as well as a divergence between policy and practice. Using the story of the targeted killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen who left the United States, joined Al Qaeda, and began advocating for the destruction of the West, I explore how these changes have led to a broader change in citizenship as a concept. By reviewing scholarly literature on citizenship, by examining American policies and practices with regard to citizenship across all three branches of government and across history, and by linking the concept of a collective American identity to citizenship, I have shown that there are several factors simultaneously facilitating continuity and change taking place in the realm of citizenship. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the faculty in the Political Science department at Rutgers-Newark who went above and beyond in their roles as educators and mentors. Both inside and outside the classroom, I could always count on them to teach me something worth learning. A particular thank you to Dr. Mary Segers, who took a chance by admitting me to the Master’s program and has supported me throughout. Thank you to Dr. Alison Howell and Dr. Elizabeth Hull, who sat on my thesis committee and offered invaluable advice and constructive criticism. Thank you to Ms. Beth Freda, who always went out of her way to make sure my questions were answered. And of course, a very special thank you goes to Dr. Mara Sidney, without whom this project would never have been completed. Thank you, Dr. Sidney, for your guidance, patience, and support. I truly could not have done it without you. Finally, thank you to both my mother, Kathy Kavin, and my step-father, Jack Blauvelt, who have done their best to keep me sane, happy, and fed over the past two years. Thank you for everything, and most especially for always believing in me. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... v Part I: Anwar al-Awlaki, Citizenship, and Targeted Killing ....................................................... 1 Part II: Citizenship Policy in the United States and Abroad ....................................................... 18 Part III: Identity, Belonging, and Citizenship ............................................................................. 46 Part IV: Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 71 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................ 87 v 1 Part I: Anwar al-Awlaki, Citizenship, and Targeted Killing Throughout the chapters of this thesis, I examine the biographical information of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen who left the United States, joined a jihadist organization, and was killed by the American government. Using the story of the life and death of al-Awlaki as described below, it is possible to probe the current understanding of citizenship and to explore the ways that the very meaning of citizenship is changing and evolving. Al-Awlaki's history provides insight into what may be a turning point in the way the state interprets, characterizes, and protects the rights of citizens. By employing one of the most drastic measures a government can take against one of its citizens – killing him on foreign soil – the United States has indicated that it too is adhering to a different understanding of citizenship than it has traditionally. With an increase in the number of American citizens (and others with Western passports that grant them visa-free access to the United States) enlisting with terrorist organizations as foreign fighters, the seemingly unprecedented actions taken against al-Awlaki by the government of the United States may be repeated. On April 6, 2010, President Barack Obama authorized the killing of Anwar al- Awlaki, a high-ranking member of the Al Qaeda terrorist network who had spent much of his childhood in Yemen, where he held citizenship. This in itself was not unusual, as the American government, its military, and the Central Intelligence Agency have long utilized “kill lists” of terrorists approved to be targeted and killed. What was extremely unusual was that al-Awlaki was also an American citizen; he was born in New Mexico, lived in the United States for the first seven years of his life, and then returned to the U.S. for college and much of his adult life. Al-Awlaki eventually developed a so-called “radical Islamic ideology,” and he was placed on the target list in accordance with 2 international law, which as a general principle permits the use of lethal force against individuals and groups that pose an imminent threat to a country.1 He was killed in a drone strike in Yemen on September 30, 2011. For some time, the killing of an American citizen by an American attack authorized by the American government was considered unprecedented and extraordinarily unique. In fact, al-Awlaki was the first U.S. citizen added to the list of suspected terrorists the CIA is authorized to kill (Bjelopera 2013: 16). Now however, as international terrorist groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (known as ISIL, ISIS, or the Islamic State) specifically recruit Americans and others with Western passports, the notion of Americans as potential targets for government killing is becoming a more plausible consideration. Approval for targeted killing by the state without a trial is a clear indication that the government no longer considers that person to possess the complete rights of a citizen, and possibly none at all. Targeted killing could then be considered an informal ejection from the state, and had al-Awlaki not also held citizenship in Yemen, this would have essentially forced statelessness upon him. The ability to remove the rights of a citizen raises clear questions about the limits of one's citizenship. As hundreds of American citizens continue to “radicalize” and pledge allegiance to terrorist groups intent on harming the United States, how are the policies and practices related to terrorism changing? How has the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki impacted the role of citizenship in the United States? Most importantly, what does this 1 The threshold of an imminent threat is crossed upon satisfying the “Caroline Test,” named after an 1837 incident in which British forces attacked the steamboat Caroline, which was carrying men and supplies from the United States to Canadian rebels. When the British claimed this to be an act of self-defense, US Secretary of State Daniel Webster laid out specific criteria for self-defense concerning the necessity and proportionality of response. These were accepted by the British and came to be seen as customary international law before being recognized by the Nuremberg Tribunal. The criteria are as follows: 1) The use of force must be necessary because the threat is imminent and thus pursuing peaceful alternatives is not an option and 2) The response must be proportionate to the threat. (Elsea 2012: 6-8) 3 mean for our concept of citizenship in general, and how has this change altered the protections afforded to those members who hold citizenship? To answer these questions, it is first important to examine the protections, securities, and responsibilities afforded by a nation to those considered to be citizens. This project uses the story of the life and death of Anwar al-Awlaki as a means to explore these questions. Throughout the project, I will return to the al-Awlaki killing in order to examine the most extreme measure a government can take against one of its own citizens: execution. Of course, execution is not unfamiliar in the United States, with thirty-one states currently allowing the procedure. However, each state-sanctioned execution sentence is the result of an arrest, a trial, and a conviction based on evidence. In al-Awlaki's situation, none of these factors were present and there was no due process involved. Because of this, by using the al-Awlaki case as an anchor, I am able to delve into questions of citizenship, belonging,